Jane Brierley, of Liverpool, explains how her four-year-old son, Sean, who has Down’s Syndrome, will be affected by cuts in the Special Educational Needs Integrated Support Service (SENIS). She says that Sean has fortnightly sessions with a member of the SENIS team who assesses his needs, provides special equipment and devises programmes for him. In addition he has a care assistant who sits with him in class to keep him on the right track. His mother says that without this support Sean might be able to cope but he would not advance. She is worried that his school will not be able to keep him if the special needs teacher is withdrawn and says she will teach him at home rather than have him go to a special school.
Liverpool Daily Post, July 3, 1996

Education leaders on Merseyside are on the verge of a U-turn over controversial plans to make special needs teachers redundant. In a surprise move the city’s chair of education revealed that redundancy notices to 11 teachers from SENIS would be withdrawn but campaigners dismissed the move as a face-saving exercise to detract attention from the scaling down of the vital service. Union leaders claimed that SENIS teachers would have to re-apply for a limited number of jobs under the new proposal and that those who were unsuccessful in securing a position would be re-deployed. ‘The teachers may not be made redundant but the effect on the youngsters would be exactly the same’, said Julie Lyon-Taylor from the NUT. Teachers, parents and children heckled delegates arriving for a council meeting and there were bitter exchanges as 17 petitions were presented covering a range of issues including special needs provision, class sizes and primary school closures.
Liverpool Daily Post, July 4, 1996.

The parents of Niki Crane may consider appealing to the High Court after losing their appeal to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal. Wendy and Peter Crane of Cherry Vale, Hesketh Bank, have spent two years trying to prove a place at Tarleton High School was offered to Niki but then snatched away at the last minute. ‘We have lost in a big way, not just a little way. They took none of our evidence on board’, says Wendy. ‘The tribunal was a test case for the whole country and has endorsed discrimination against disabled children and set a precedent for LEAs to ask schools if they want these children’. The outcome of the appeal means that 13-year-old Niki must go to a special school in Fulwood, 17 miles away from his home. Wendy and Pete are convinced that the special school placement is not suitable for him but if they refuse to send him the LEA may take out an attendance order.
The Advertiser July 18, 1996.

Barnardos Princess Margaret Special School in Taunton, Somerset, closes after 30 years. The pupils are moving to six primary and two secondary schools in the county with Barnardos offering special support. Each pupil will have a designated classroom assistant and Barnardos will provide physiotherapy and speech and language therapy on the school sites. A teacher co-ordinator will ensure tailoring of the curriculum to each child’s needs. Toby Mildon, aged 15, who has already moved to mainstream, said his advice to other young people would be: ‘Just get out there and do it. They may think it’s going to be really hard, that they are going to be separate, that they are going to stick out. But I don’t think it’s like that at all. Society has got a lot better at dealing with disability’.
Western Daily Press, July 24, 1996.

The mother of a classmate of a five-year-old boy who wants to stay in mainstream school has organised a fund-raising bungee jump to help pay for a classroom assistant to support him. The bungee jump, which raised GBP200, is the latest event to help keep five-year Sam Walker at St. Wilfrid’s School in Hartford, Cheshire. So far a total GBP7,000 has been raised to pay for an educational assistant. Sam’s mother Denise say she is determined not to give up despite losing an appeal to keep Sam at the school.
Northwich Guardian, July 24, 1996.

Brookside School in Stockport has become one of the few primary schools in the country with a sensory centre. The centre – a small room which provides visual, tactile, auditory and aromatic stimulation – has been funded by local businesses in association with Stockport Council. Headteacher Anne Francis stressed that the sensory centre will be used by all pupils, not just pupils with learning difficulties.
Stockport Times East, July 25, 1996.

A nine-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome has been told by her school that she may have to face half-time education because there is not enough money to fund her full-time helper. Isobel Drinkall of Collingham has been a pupil at John Blow Primary School, Collingham, Notts since she was five. Her mother said the school had not yet decided how to manage Isobel. One option was to put her in classes where she would cause the least disruption, and there was also the possibility of her going home when her helper was not there. Mrs. Drinkall said: ‘The teacher has to cope with 30 other children so there is no way that she can deal on her own with Isobel as well’. John Blow school governors said they were shocked and concerned about the drastic effect education cuts would have on Isobel’s education. A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council said funding for the Newark area remained the same as last year.
Newark Advertiser, July 26, 1996.

The Stockport Portage Association has published a book by 11-year-old Alexandra Metcalfe about her baby brother Jamie, who has Down’s Syndrome. Alexandra describes how Jamie changed her life and helped her understand about disabled people ‘I didn’t know what Down’s Syndrome meant – I was afraid. I wanted to write down how important Jamie was to us. It made me feel happier’. The Stockport Portage Association feel the book might help ease the fears of other children who had a brother or sister with Down’s Syndrome.
Liverpool Daily Post, July 27, 1996.